CIDRAP acknowledges the complexities and opportunities for error in the rushed development of COVID-19 tests, and emphasizes the importance of creating, distributing, and reading tests in a “smart” way. The points of “Smart Testing” include national coordination, expert oversight, implementing infrastructure that supports test supply chains, and expanding testing to all citizens exhibiting symptoms in a timely manner.

One specific recommendation is that the “US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) appoint by July 1, 2020, a blue-ribbon panel of national experts” that consists of professionals in every aspect of the testing process, including: public health, laboratory, research and development, marketing, ethics, legal, and local government officials. CIDRAP believes getting the right tests to the right people, and providing timely results, is how to best abate this pandemic.